Kaleb gently pulled the blankets up over his finally sleeping wife,his faint smile short lived as she pressed in against him in her sleep, seeking the contact they both needed so much of these days.
He'd had one hell of an argument with Emzadi after the opening ceremonies were over, his sister still furious she wasn't on the team. It had taken no small amount of effort on his and Thane's part to get them privacy since both Lucy and Gajeel knew their mates were upset and were wanting to know why.
"You have VANDER in, and he was injured severely in Joya! So don't tell me it's because of the fight in Joya, I've heard you tell Gaza, and Beck and too many others that bullshit!" She snapped, fiery eyes ablaze. Of his siblings, Emzadi was and always had been the most outspoken, the most bold, even making Vander look reserved at times with her behavior and of every wizard he knew, she was the only one who could knock him right on his ass in a fair fight.
"It is NOT Bullshit Emi, a large portion of my best mages have suffered injuries and magic depletion illness over the last few months, with all the fighting White Sea has been involved in it's a miracle I could even assemble a team at all, I've had no choice but to pull in fresh mages and my own damn family for this because I won't put mages who have already fought to the point they were harmed for me and the guild recently. Gaza is still dealing with recovery problems, Beck has trouble with his back he doesn't want Laxus to know about that Cristoff is trying to help with, and there are valid reasons behind every top mage I did not choose for this including YOU!" Kaleb snarled back.
He was normally calm, it was rare anyone could get him angry, buy Emzadi had a talent for it. It stemmed from all she had been through, and all the times Kaleb felt like he should have been there, should have helped or protected her somehow and hadn't been able to, the death of her second love and one of his best S-class mages still weighed on him heavily at times, not that he'd ever admit that to anyone especially Emi.
"You better give me the reason then, because my MATE is fighting in this and as powerful as I know he is? As much as I believe he's a good choice? I'm just as good Kaleb and just as capable of burning down the illusions of Emerald Eye, for fucks sake I have as much of a rivalry with that damned guild as you do!" She said waving a hand, trailing flames through the air when she did because she was so angry they were licking around her fingers.
She was right, Emerald Eyes lieutenant and Guildmaster had been among the mages who believed and fought the government over holding her accountable for Shota's death. The S-class fire mage had been Emerald Eye's second in command, Hinlow's cousin and Shotas family had wanted Emzadi put to death when Shota's attempt to mate with her during the dragon mating season had ended in his death.
This after Hinlow was the one to help Shota find where Emzadi was staying during the mating season, after he had encouraged his cousin to go after her. The Pradesh family had been at odds with the leadership of Emerald Eye ever since and Emzadi had come to hate Hinlow as much as he clearly hated her.
During the last games he'd gone after her every chance he got, an after match attack in a tunnel that had caused both mages injury and nearly collapsed a whole section of the grandstands had resulted in the rules about mage interaction outside the arena being substantially stricter since then.
Kaleb narrowed his eyes on his sister, not backing down, feeling the barriers she was so carefully maintaining and knowing, thanks to Cristoff and Xally, just why she'd been keeping them so strongly in place, but her mate wasn't, no...Gajeel was elated over it all and unable to hide that so even if Cristoff and Xally had said nothing Kaleb still would have known.
"White Sea has lost enough the last few months. I promised Vander last year that if he could keep from creating any more international trouble for White Sea up to the games I would bring him, he's busted his ass to get ready for this and I won't deny him, Cobra is in because the two of them work together seamlessly in combat and they have both been training incredibly hard. Every mage I have here I chose for a fucking reason Emi including your mate, Gajeel's abilities will help immensely in the all guilds brawl and in all of the full team challenges." He said firmly
"I'm not arguing that damn it, but why send in Cida when I can fight harder than she can?!" She demanded, and it wasn't a lack of love for Cida,because Emi thought the world of her new sister, but she was certain she was stronger and Cida still occasionally had control issues during spars and training, if she did that here it could cost White Sea dearly.
"Because your pregnant Emi and I fucking know it!" Kaleb finally snarled.
Emi's eyes flew wide and after a few moments of staring into her brother's hard Lavender eyes she sank into the chair behind her with a sigh.
"Fucking Xally, I'm going to slap her silly." She huffed.
"No you're not because she didn't tell me until after I told her I already knew, your mate is very very happy about this Emi and don't you dare get mad at him for being so overjoyed you two are expecting, he just can't contain it and you shouldn't expect him to. I'll be damned if after all that's happened the last few months I put my pregnant sister into the arena to fight people who hate her. No...like I said, I have reasons for every single choice I made puting this team together, I've been thoroughly questioned by the media and even some of my own people about this year's team, it's not ideal, I'd dearly love to have Gaza, Beck, Rowan, Thesally and Fury in the games, but every damn one of them can't be because of very good reasons. Gaza, Beck and Fury were all injured badly in Joya, and Thesally is more pregnant than you are, she and her husband have been trying for three years for a baby and I'm not putting her or him here where either of them could get hurt, those were my choices before, along with Thane, Vander and Presca. The only new White Sea mage I'd have brought would have been Lucy and her only because it's the rules, we're married and she is co-master of White Sea, so, new or not, she has to participate. As big as we are, White Sea isn't all that different from most other guilds, we have a few dozen mages well above the rest, I chose the best available after all things were considered, so stop questioning me Emi."
The whole thing had worn him out. He was worried about this, about Emerald eye taking advantage of his position right now. The truth was he WAS weaker than normal right now. Lucy was still perfecting not overdrawing off of his magic when she fought, her competitive nature and deep seated desire to prove herself made her forget very easily in the heat of combat that when she started using her high power attacks she drained her magic fast and they had figured out once she hit about one quarter left in her, basically four big attacks and forget one of her super attacks or pulling out Draco in dragon form, she started pulling her magic from Kaleb.
Now he had three origins open and all three were large, he'd trained hard his whole life and had a far better than average refill rate, so he could sustain her for a good while but only if he wasn't fighting too. If he was fighting, and not for her, his magic dropped pretty quick because Lucy's spirits drew hefty amounts of magic and Lucy herself did too especially in Stardress.
He'd taken up warning her, but, even with warnings, she sometimes didn't register those warnings or had this "Just a little more" mentality, do or die and hadn't gotten the bad habit she'd gotten into with her former team back in Fairy Tail of using her magic until she blacked out, completely out of her fighting style. Hestor had worked with her, and had done some things Kaleb wasn't really all that happy about pushing the concept into his stubborn wife that she HAD to stop being that way.
Kaleb had almost stopped reacting to Hestor walking to him and clamping a magic cancelling cuff onto him before he and Lucy trained so Lucy had no choice, Kaleb's magic just wasn't there and if she overdid...Hestor made her regret it.
She'd woken up with her head shaved, naked, with magic marker and glitter all over her more than once...a pretty shocking sight seeing her chasing Hestor around in a rage while the man cackled and reminded her that if she would STOP using up her damned magic to the point she passed out he wouldn't have the chance to do such things….which only made Lucy more angry…
"You are married and Mated to my BEST fucking friend and you could KILL him because you're being STUBBORN! Learn to live and work in your own damned limits woman!" Hestor would yell and Lucy would screech in frustration and scream back
"I am TRYING!"
"Try harder! You know, until you DO it!"
"Fuck you!"
"No thank you, I prefer sword fights in bed as much as in the ring."
That comment left Lucy blinking then laughing until she was gasping as Hestor had shrugged and redone his braid while he waited for Lucy to regain her composure.
She always apologized, and was always upset with herself after the fact, but still did it in the heat of battle. In training and sparring it wasn't a dire thing, but now? There were mages that would absolutely hit them when they saw them go down, if Lucy sucked Kaleb down to nothing in the ring? A lot of mages in this competition would eagerly jump on the chance to be the one to brag about taking a guildmaster down.
He was going to have to get after her more about it during combat, had even been learning from Draco how to cut her off, even though he did NOT want to because twice it had resulted in her blacking herself right the fuck out and that sent him into almost a panic, she was his mate, and he was an Archangel mage, his drive to protect her was serious.
There was also the fact she was still learning to use some of the new aspects to her magic brought by their mating too, and sometimes got unexpected results. Lucy though, was not optional, he had no choice but to have her here and let her fight.
So sleep was evading him in spite of being tired, and he'd worn Lucy out and given her a soft nudge into sleep so at least one of them was well rested tomorrow. He ran his fingers through her golden hair, kissing her temple again and breathing in her sweet strawberry scent, smirking a little at how well laced with the smell of sex it was still.
She'd enjoyed stripping him out of his formal regalia as much as he'd loved watching her tease him by slowly stripping out of hers. Tomorrow he'd be in his battle gear, either the mageweave black and gold or his white and gold plate armor depending on his opponent if he was even chosen to fight, the selection might end up being Lucy, they had said it was possible seconds or spouses would lead off this year. They wouldn't find out until morning.
Burying his face in Lucy's hair he smiled faintly hearing the familiar mental efforts of his sons trying to keep quiet and have their mental shields up so they didn't wake him. Moments later the boys were peering over their parents trying to decide the best way to crawl into the bed with them and Kaleb smiled, turning and looking at them putting his finger to his lips.
On top of the sheet, your mother isn't clothed and you know how she feels about these things. Raiu you can sleep beside me, Hasu you can cuddle up with your mother… He directed and the boys eagerly but still delicately hurried to follow his instructions, grateful they were being allowed.
It meant Kaleb wouldn't be waking Lucy her favorite way, but they had agreed already if the boys needed to sleep with them they would allow it. Both were still prone to nightmares and Kaleb almost always caught them and could ease them out of them into better dreams and Cristoff and the other dragonslayers all agreed, cuddle time was really important to Dragonslayer children, even Gajeel admitted he'd gotten cuddles with Metalicana as a child and they had meant the world to him.
The boys settled and were soon asleep and,surrounded by his family, the Mindbender finally drifted off himself.
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Mmm, more to the left sexy…. Cobra smirked, angling his next attack to the left until his mate purred.
Fuck yes..right there baby... hard enough my siblings feel it!
There was a collective eye roll and chorus of assorted groans and mutterings through the White Sea balcony watching the battle below. It was a 5 on 5. Third day was all about recovering lost points from the opening two and this year the Masters themselves didn't start their one on ones until the fourth day, the first three devoted to getting a general ranking for the guilds.
In every fight either the Master of the guild or their spouse if they were promised, engaged or wed, first lieutenant if they weren't led the fight. Lucy was down in the ring with Vander, Cobra, Laxus and Hestor.
She rolled her eyes at Vander who gave her a cheeky grin before vanishing, appearing behind one of their opponents from Windcrest, a guild from the Northeastern edge of Bosco, kicking the back of the man's knees so he bent backwards then in a graceful arc of his other arm, decking the man in the face as soon as it was pointing upward sending him slamming down to the arena floor before Vander spun ducking down as he did, extending a leg and taking the legs out from under the other mage standing near the first one when that one came down the Shadowquip sprang away from them just as Laxus brought a massive bolt of lighting down on the pair.
Beck was leaning on the railing, he and Emzadi had been allowed to be in the private area with their guilds competing members since they were mated to competitors but the 200 seats below them were all the rest of the guild were allowed in and with more than 4000 members, most of White Sea was watching the competition like the majority of the country, on the Lacrima screens.
The last two standing from Windcrest charged, sights set on Lucy, she had learned the last two days she and Kaleb were always the targets, bringing down the Masters of guilds was incredibly revered, if a mage managed it they would be famous instantly and while Lucy herself had come into this with almost no notoriety, she had made it known she deserved her place at Kaleb's side.
The correct and expected way to handle herself in these fights was always to give her mages the chance to defend her, because just as it was a seriously big achievement to bring down a Guildmaster, it always sent the crowd into a frenzy when loyal mages protected their leaders, it was seen as defending the honor of their Guild. The leader was the embodiment of what the guild stood for, its heart and driving spirit. So Lucy slid into a ready stance, gathering her magic, but waited, giving her team their chance to protect her.
The two big men ran headfirst into what could only be called the brick wall of Abraxis, the spirit grinning as he stood, watching them stumble backwards, only to have Laxus teleport between them as they were hurtling backward and clothesline them, catching them with his thickly muscled arms and flipping them so they were face down then Cobra sent a shockwave of sound to slam them down to the ground where they dug a trench with their faces in the arena floor.
The crowd went crazy, Lucy relaxing her stance, chocolate eyes scanning over the downed mages making sure all were accounted for and still down before smiling to her guildmates.
"Again the beautiful Mistress of White Sea has not had to lift a finger, White Sea takes the match! Tying them with Emerald Eye with 60 points!" The announcer called.
Each victory was worth 20 points, two matches per day per guild.
"That does it for today's match ups ladies and gentlemen, we will resume again tomorrow morning with the much anticipated Guildmaster duels! Because White Sea and Emerald Eye are tied for first, their masters will face off in the first round of the morning so don't be late!"
Lucy walked with the others from the ring, stopping abruptly once they were in the tunnel that would lead them to the stairs to the Guilds assembly area.
Standing in the way was Perlina, the Promised of Joren, Master of Emerald Eye. The woman was taller than Lucy, more slender built but beautiful, with dark blue hair and brilliant red eyes.
"Master Lucy Pradesh, mated wife of Master Kaleb. It's a pleasure to meet you, I am…" She began but Lucy narrowed her eyes, holding a hand up to halt the advancing Dragonslayers she felt coming up on either side of her both growling.
"Perlina Ducray, promised of Joren, I know who you are, what are you doing in this tunnel? You are not allowed to interact with our guild at all while the games are on, your guild could be penalized 20 points for this violation of the very clear rules of this event." Lucy said flatly and firmly.
Perlina smirked. "But I am not "here" nor am I directly interacting with you, I am currently standing with my promised on Emerald Eyes balcony and I only wanted to congratulate you and your mages on a fine display of teamwork the last few matches. Let you know...Joran plans to...ruin...Kaleb. Just a woman to woman warning, I know I am protective of Joren, I'm sure you're the same with Kaleb. He humiliated him once, he plans to do so much worse this time, Perhaps you could convince your darling husband to request a match with spouses included? Then you could protect him? But then...nobody would be protecting you from me…" The woman laughed.
Hestor sneered, not bothering to do more than take a few steps, a sword in hand and magic curling along the edge before it was slicing forward, magic sparking before it finally ended up cutting down the illusionary projection of Perlina.
"It is still a violation, any form of interaction is strictly prohibited and we all saw and heard that." Hestor hissed, eyes narrowing and his lips curled back into a sneer. Just then the Lacrima screens out in the stadium lit up suddenly and the slowly retreating crowds all stopped in confusion looking up, Lucy and the others turned hurrying to the mouth of the tunnel just in time to see Perlina appear and the playback of what had just happened broadcast all over the stadium.
Cobra smirked then, glancing around and not seeing his mate.
Fuck I love it when you're sneaky….. He purred through the mind link Kaleb had set up through all the guild members competing.
So Lucy owes me a beer when we get back to the tavern…. Vander declared
As they looked up to Emerald Eye's balcony, authorities with the games commision were already there and Joren jerked his head, glaring down at Lucy and her team. Lucy smiled sweetly and waved turning back to her guildmates. Cobra grinned, giving the man a single fingered salute before joining the team and ushering Lucy back up the tunnel, finding Vander standing by the door to their assembly area.
Lucy leaned over and kissed the man's cheek, earning a bright grin from him. "Never. Ever stop doing things like that." She said firmly and Vander winked at her.
"Anytime Sis, you know I hate rule breakers...when they aren't me." He replied and the door opened, Kaleb stepping through, sweeping Lucy right off her feet into a fierce hug and breath stealing kiss.
"She won't be allowed to compete, just cost Emerald Eye 20 points, no idea what all they'll do but I know she'll at least be banned from continuing.. Shit...I can hardly believe Joren let her do that…" Kaleb said, setting Lucy back on her feet.
"Bout par for the course for the man really, I'm frankly surprised there wasn't some sort of attempt at fucking with us sooner." Vander said, turning into Cobra as the slayer slipped an arm around him.
Kaleb sighed, hugging Lucy to him once more then shedding his concerns and giving the group a grin. "You did great, we're now in the lead, and what Perlina did will likely reorganize the duel schedule for tomorrow."
Farron stepped past Kaleb and Hestor's eyes warmed, a smile lighting his face as the blonde swept him into an embrace and kissed him breathless, the Celestial mage breathing a little harder and leaning into Farron who was telling him just how proud he was of him until Cobra and Vander sort of staggered past, Vander wrapped around Cobra kissing him and Cobra mumbling about needing to kiss everything that had drawn blood in the ring.
"Well then let's get a dang drink because I'm thirsty!" Bickslow called and they all moved to the assembly room, White Sea swarming around them with congratulations and the loud raucous mass of mages made their way from the assembly area back to the hotel. Though the guild branch was only a few miles away competitors were required to stay in approved quarters for the duration of the event, and White Sea had booked the top floor of the Hotel across from the stadium. There were inns, and some of the dorms had been made available too to the visiting guilds but Kaleb had wanted his people in a well elevated highly visible and secure place. He knew Joren intended to bring him and White Sea down, humiliating him a couple of years ago had seemed to only whet the man's appetite, had stirred the rivalry more that had existed between White Sea and Emerald Eye for more than 30 years.
Grenlow had started it with Matsin, the former leader of Emerald Eye and Jorens mentor. Now, Joren was determined he needed to ruin Grenlow's student, since Grenlow had doled out a humiliating defeat to Joren's mentor before Kaleb had even been born.
Joren had helped Kaleb, worked with him, tried to lure him to join Emerald Eye and leave White Sea, sensing the power he held, knowing he could go far, had he succeeded back when Kaleb was a boy Kaleb would have risen through Emerald Eye's ranks and would likely be Jorens first lieutenant now. A Wizard Saint as first rank under him would have been a hell of a feather in Jorens cap but Kaleb wouldn't leave White Sea, the guild that had so helped his family throughout his life, or Grenlow, who had helped his father raise him.
Between the bad blood between him and Joren, and what stood between Emzadi and Hinlow, maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised that Emerald Eye was already taking shots at them in spite of the very strict restrictions.
They returned to their hotel, the private dining area assigned to them kept them away from Windcrest, a good thing since they had delivered a pretty sound defeat to that guild today.
Everyone was laughing and kidding around by the time they got there, a steady flow of White Sea mages moving to the dining area, the people who had watched and cheered eager to greet and congratulate their guildmates on their win.
It was all fantastic, Lucy standing next to Kaleb, an arm around his waist leaning against him sipping at some wine listening while Thane filled them in on all the things going on at the various guild branches that needed their attention or input.
She looked around, Cida was sitting in her mates lap, fingers buried in his black hair kissing the man senseless, one of her favorite pastimes. Gajeel was in a booth with Emzadi getting much the same attention as Cristoff. Laxus was sitting in a chair with Beck behind him massaging his shoulders and keeping the most adorable doofy half lidded expression on the usually glowering man because of his attentions.
Cobra had already grabbed Vanders wrist and dragged the grinning shadowquip to their room. Everyone was in good spirits in spite of what had happened because the authorities at the games had moved fast and made a statement right over the broadcast that Emerald Eye had been harshly reprimanded, Perlina had been permanently banned from participating, not just this year, but for good, and if Emerald Eye had any form of contact with White Sea at all, any, Emerald Eye would be kicked out of the games and banned for 2 years from participation AND all of their members would be banned from competing in the regular wizard games as well.
It was severe, harsh, but the organizers of the games decided to make an example out of Emerald Eye so it was clear they damn well meant it when they said no interaction between guilds. So, White Sea was keeping to themselves but with a guild their size that certainly did not diminish the size of their party.
Tucked against Kaleb's side, watching her boys play with their Grandfather, with all the noise the boisterous guild was making she almost didn't make it out the first time the voice rose and called her name, her eyes locked on her children she didn't see the blue blur, but, when the drawn out.
"Luuuucyyyy!" Was wailed followed by "Where's LUCE?! Damn it I'm not from any of the fucking Boscan guilds I'm looking for my fucking partner! Erza let me go LUUUUUCYYYYY!"
Her whole being froze a moment, eyes dilating as they snapped over in time to see Beck snap a hand out and a flying blue cat freeze in mid flight toward her and fall to the floor wide eyed then she saw some guildmates part and met familiar dark eyes and a megawatt grin.
"LUCE! There you are!" He strode toward her as if they had seen each other yesterday, as if this were Fairy Tail's guildhall in Magnolia, as if she wasn't tucked up against the side of her very still suddenly very silent mate.
"Natsu! Fuck man! I told ya...not to….shit...Hi Lucy...I'm sorry, Flametard never fucking listens…" Gray said stumbling up behind Natsu coming up short looking around and unlike Natsu noticing Laxus standing up with a very unhappy menacing look on his face, Bickslow also on his feet approaching not wearing anything resembling his usual easy going smile as well as some other large formidable looking mages that had stopped and were looking at the shocked look of horror on their new Guildmistress' face and the carefree grin on the pink haired man before her.
"Bullshit she wants to see me, Luce is my partner, my fucking best friend! No way she doesn't want to see me right away, right Luce?" He looked expectantly at her, dark eyes narrowing when Kaleb's arm around her shifted, pulling her tighter against him.
"Whose this guy?" He demanded with a faint frown.
Lucy's brain finally kicked into gear and she pulled out of Kaleb's hold, the flat of her palm striking Natsu's face so hard his head snapped to the side and he staggered a step, hand flying up to grab his stinging cheek as Lucy stood glaring at him. Erza got through the crowd then., followed closely by Juvia and Levy, all three women putting hands over their mouths in surprise.
"This, Natsu Dragneel, is Kaleb, and don't you come walking up to me after you abandoned me with nothing but a fucking NOTE and try to talk to me as if nothing has happened!" She snarled.
Natsu looked up at her wide eyed "Luce! I...I lost Igneel, I...I had to go train, get stronger so I could protect you better, I couldn't stand the chance of losing anyone else, of losing YOU!" He said angrily.
"I don't need your fucking protection! I needed a real friend! Somebody to be there for me after all we lost, all I sacrificed too! You're not the only one who lost somebody they loved that day Natsu! When I needed you most, you ran off and abandoned me and everyone else! You harped about Nakama, about friends and about always being there for each other but when it all went down you turned your back on all of us because you didn't trust us, didn't believe in us enough to share your grief, that's WRONG Natsu, what you did was HORRIBLE!" She shouted and the Dragonslayer blinked at her in disbelief.
Hestor leaned back, Farron's arms around him, his back pressed against the blondes front, head nicely resting against Farron's shoulder as he sipped his scotch and smiled. "She's needed this…" he whispered and Farron hummed softly.
Natsu stood again, scratching the back of his neck before shoving his hand through his shaggy overgrown pink hair.
"I...I'm sorry Luce, I didn't know, but I'll make it up to you, when we get back to Magnolia, we'll fix everything, get the guild back together and I'll work really hard...make it all right again." He said sheepishly and Lucy's mouth fell open.
"Natsu...you can't be serious." She said.
He grinned again. "Of course I am! Come on Luce, you're my partner! We have to go find everyone and bring 'em home! We got Levy and she found out Gajeel was here...Hey Metalface!" He waved at Gajeel who was still sitting in a booth not far away leaning back against Emzadi's chest while she ran her fingers through his thick black locks scratching her long red nails over his scalp gently. Fiery eyes narrowed and locked on Levy who was staring wide eyed at the scene.
"I'm not your partner anymore Natsu, all of that ended when you abandoned me without even saying anything, a NOTE! You left me nothing but a fucking NOTE! I didn't know where you were, I didn't know if you were ok, I didn't even know if you were ALIVE! Not once, not one time did you contact me, let me know anything at all!" Lucy shouted, all of it, waves and waves of pain that she'd left behind, that she'd moved past, all of it welled right up like it had never left her and along with it fury, fury and betrayal and pain.
"Luce, I told you, I had to, losing Igneel really showed me I wasn't strong enough to protect all of you, I had to go get stronger and I did Luce! I...damn it...you know I've never been good at all this talking shit out, just...just come home Lucy! You promised me you'd always be there when I needed you! Well I do and Fairy Tail needs you!" He said.
Hestor's eyes narrowed then "You made a promise like that?" He asked and Lucy pressed her lips together, nodding "Years ago...when I was running away from home and I was...struggling and alone and scared and I wanted to be in Fairy Tail more than anything. Natsu was the first person to be good to me, and he took me to Fairy Tail…" Lucy said
Hestor hummed "That doesn't mean you promise your life to someone."
Lucy glared at him "Hes...I was young, desperate, lonely and I had no real faith in myself. Natsu was my best friend...and he was there at the beginning, always there...alot of the time when I didn't want him to be." She sighed and Hestor sipped his scotch looking between the two.
"So you made a careless, reckless promise and he's held you to it for years." Hestor observed.
Lucy sighed and Natsu growled "Hey asshole, you're making it sound like I was blackmailing her or something!"
Hestor's brow tipped up "Weren't you? Holding a Celestial to an impetuous promise and even reminding her of it whenever she started to try and get some distance from you?"
Natsu lunged and Hestor moved, a gauntleted hand catching Natsu's flaming fist and the Celestial mage shoved Natsu back "We do not fight in nice establishments that are hosting our guild." Hestor snapped.
Lucy was shaking her head "We don't need to fight at all!"
"Butt out Luce, this guy needs a lesson or two in minding his own fucking business!" Natsu shouted and Lucy's eyes narrowed, Kaleb's arm tightened around her and she touched it letting him know not to step in. She was Guildmistress of White Sea...she could handle two of her friends having...a fight...over her.
Hestor was waiting, watching Lucy and when she nodded "Take it outside." she said, Hestor turned and handed Farron his glass of scotch, leaning up and placing a quick kiss on Farron lips before turning and heading for the front door.
"All right! Finally some action!" Natsu shouted running ahead of the Celestial mage and the White Sea and Fairy Tail mages all followed them outside. He was upset, angry, frustrated, knew Lucy was right, he should have contacted her, should have told her in person he was leaving to train...but he'd been thoughtless...again...and his best coping mechanism had always been...violence, so, he'd take it out on the loud mouthed stuck up asshole.
The street was relatively wide and Kaleb nodded to a couple of mages and they sent rune shields out to protect the buildings and sidewalks.
"A duel to settle a disagreement is common with mages...but you're in Bosco now, Natsu, there are rules that are not flexible. No potentially fatal attacks and keep your attacks centered on your opponent, if you involve anyone else, you lose." Laxus said firmly and Natsu gave him an incredulous look.
"Duel? What the fuck? I'm just gonna wipe the floor with this asshole." Natsu snapped
"It's a duel, and you will obey the rules or you'll shut up and walk away." Kaleb said firmly and Natsu winced, the Guild Master's voice echoing in his head with so much force pain shot through him.
"Ow! Yeah...Ok...rules whatever, can I hit the guy yet?" Natsu asked, looking over at Hestor and blinking.
The nearly dress looking clothes Hestor had been in were gone, he stood now in near white gold armor that hugged his body, leaving his chest bare, the seal of White Sea clear there along with curling blue rose tattoos across his collar bone. Golden wings right over his heart. Hestor smiled.
"Bring it...what was it your friend called you? Flametard?" Hestor asked innocently.
Natsu roared and charged him, fists igniting and he hit...a shield..fist bouncing off and sending Natsu staggering because of his committed followthrough. As he staggered Hestor kicked out and hooked his ankle and Natsu fell on his ass.
"Scutum…" Hestor purred, moving slightly and Natsu snarled, jumping to his feet and lunging again, it wasn't the right move and Lucy winced as he bounced off the shield again, Hestor just watching. He had no reason to let Natsu anywhere near him, and Natsu was going to have to figure out something other than physical attacks.
Natsu though was not one to abandon his favorite method of attack easily and threw himself against the shield repeatedly and was crouching, panting and pissed and glaring at the bored looking Hestor.
"You're an asshole…" Natsu said and Hestor shrugged "So you keep saying, I'm still waiting for the experience of having the ground wiped with me…
"Lucy was my friend way before she ever met you shithead, we made promises to each other." Natsu said and Hestor tilted his head.
"Did you now? I know what Lucy said, what promise did you make?" The celestial asked.
"I Promised Lucy she'd have a future." Natsu said "And I'm here to make sure she does, to rebuild Fairy Tail so she can have that!"
"Just what do you think she's built here, Natsu? Kaleb isn't a Sudehpah or a consort, he's her HUSBAND and she isn't just a mage here, she co-leads this guild, she's respected here, appreciated!..." Hestor smiled then as he realized something.
Natsu had promised Lucy a future...well...by abandoning her...he'd assured she went and found it...he had fulfilled his promise to her and she...by doing what he needed her to...had fulfilled hers to him. It was...perfect.
"But she was supposed to include me! I should be somewhere in the picture...and Fairy Tail!" Natsu protested.
"Did it ever occur to you maybe she couldn't Until you were gone? That by abandoning her, you set her on the path to make a future for herself and her, by doing it, fulfilled her promise to be there for you." Hestor said, "from what I've heard being apart from you and the others of that old team was the only way Lucy could get time to herself to really do much of anything substantial for herself."
Natsu stared at him and shook his head "No...no I don't want that…" he said angrily and Hestor curled a lip in a sneer.
"You don't get to say…" Hestor snapped.
"But Fairy Tail Needs Lucy!" Natsu protested.
"He's right, Lu, we're going to rebuild the guild and, we need you, we need...Gajeel and Cana and Laxus and all of you!" Levy said from near Gray. Lucy narrowed her eyes on her friend.
"Levy...where is Jet?" Lucy demanded.
Levy blinked, wringing her hands and looking at the floor, Lucy didn't miss the lack of an engagement or wedding ring.
"Long story...and a private one…" Levy said blushing.
Lucy narrowed her eyes about to say more when a gentle hand fell on her shoulder.
No Sunrise, don't go after her...there's a lot to what happened with her, she's already incredibly upset seeing Gajeel with Emi, she was hoping to apologize to him, get him back, what she did wasn't her fault and you should talk to her in private, you and Gajeel both….. Kaleb's voice said softly in her head.
She turned her gaze back on Natsu.
"I'm not going back, Natsu, I have a life here." She said firmly.
Hestor stood down then, armor yielding to his elegant decidedly feminin clothing, boots turning into high heeled ankle boots and he returned to Farron who was smiling at him, putting his scotch back into his hand. Returning to his position comfortable in Farron's arms both turned their attention to Lucy and Natsu.
Natsu frowned "Luce...whatever you have here you can have better back home, I'm not kidding, we need you, Erza's gonna be the guild leader, Mira and the Strauses already are rebuilding the guild with Laki and some of the others but we need you, we need everyone to come home." He said firmly.
"No! You go away! You're not taking my Mom!" Lucy looked down in surprise as Hasu ran up beside her and wrapped his arms around her leg. Raiu was quick to rush forward too, shocking Natsu when the boy rushed him and kicked him in the shin so hard he yelped before Kaleb lunged forward and snatched the boy up into his arms.
Natsu gaped at Lucy, looking at the two boys...their scents alone told him they were with Lucy and...they were Dragon Slayer children.
"Luigi…" He breathed. Lucy picked Hasu up and held him to her, kissing his forehead and brushing his ruby bangs back from his deep green eyes.
"It's ok." She said quietly to the boy and looked at Natsu.
"These are my sons, Hasu and Raiu, Natsu, I haven't been sitting around waiting and wishing you would show up you know...I've built a life here, I have kids, and...I'm married." She held up her hand flashing her rings then stepped back and leaned into Kaleb again who shifted Raiu to his other hip and put his arm around her, kissing her temple.
Natus eyes were huge "M...married...no….no Luce….I…but what about Fairy Tail?" He was shaking his head and Lucy drew a breath.
"Master Makarov disbanded it, walked away, abandoned it and all of us just like you did, like Gray and Erza did. The only people who gave a fucking damn were Laxus, Bickslow and Freed, they took me with them, brought me here and helped me, gave me a new home and...I met Kaleb and he...helped me, was there for me, has been supporting me from the very beginning...everyone here...they've held me up not shoved me behind them so I could be protected, nobody here has ever called me fat or heavy or weak and even when I was really hard to love...Kaleb loved me Natsu...he's my mate, my husband, and I am the Co-Guildmaster of White Sea at his side, the mother of Hasu and Raiu, Lucy Heartfillia died when Fairy Tail did...I am Lucy Pradesh." She said, lifting her chin.
Natsu shook his head, frowning "No...Lucy...it's only been a year...I mean, how could you...in a year…" He looked at her with real unhappiness now and Lucy pressed her lips together, refusing to feel guilty or bad, she hadn't done a damn thing wrong or anything at all to feel bad about.
"You know...it only takes 9 months to have a baby Natsu, a lot can happen in 12 months. A lot HAS happened. I am NOT going back to Magnolia, I don't want the life I had there back, it wasn't healthy, I was constantly getting hurt, you and Happy made me feel like I was a fat weak piece of shit, ate all my food, wrecked my apartment and trashed half the missions we went on so I never had enough money to cover everything, the saddest part of all that was it was so much better than my life at the Konzern I thought I was happy even though I was endlessly doubting myself and never felt good enough! I have a wonderful life here, I won't stop anyone else but you have to understand, nobody stopped living just because you left and Fairy Tail disbanded. Look around you Natsu. Cana is getting married, that red head she's sitting with? That's Rowan, a good man, a green mage and her fiance, Gildarts is even coming out here for their wedding next month. Laxus got mated too and Freed is promised to Romino, an archive mage. So before you start trying to force everyone to go back, you need to consider that maybe they're HAPPY here?! I know I am." Lucy said, her voice breaking several times during her rant but she didn't care, Hasu was nuzzling against her trying to comfort her, Kaleb's arm was wrapped around her and she was surrounded by the new family she had built.
Natsu frowned, looking at Gray who was glaring at him, Erza standing a few feet away arms crossed under her breasts shaking her head and Levy was staring at the floor still wringing her hands and looking miserable.
Kaleb drew a breath, hugging Lucy to his side "Sit down, Natsu, Levy, Erza, Gray, have something to eat, something to drink, there are spare rooms on the floor we have rented for the games, I'll have Thane assign you one. Understand this guild is in the middle of a competition you are not welcome to disturb or participate in but you are still welcome to stay here or at the Guild with us until we can sit down and talk." Kaleb said and Lucy looked at him in surprise, what was there left to talk about?
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It was the end of the first week of the games before Lucy finally had the time to pull Levy aside to talk to her. She'd seen her, and Kaleb had twice stopped her from making a comment to her about Jet, shaking his head and telling her he wasn't going to try to explain, that she just needed to talk to the woman before she said anything she might regret later.
There were times that the man frustrated her and this was one of them, but they were so busy with the games she didn't have the energy to argue. She was making a name for herself, the crowds were cheering for her now, and Kaleb had spoken with the organizers ahead of time about how their magic worked as mates, let them know that Lucy was capable of summoning him onto the field and that sometimes during fierce battles he magic and his would force him to go to her side, it was something they had not wanted to override and Loke and Draco had both agreed, nothing should ever be done to harm that part of their magic.
Vander and Cobra were, by midway through, actually feared by most of the other mages, their gleeful destruction of their opponents followed by serious PDAs was well known.
Hestor had handed several asses to their owners in his matches and even some of the people who had started out sort of scoffing at the holder mages of White Sea, were grudgingly admitting maybe they were wrong.
Lucy was doing her best, having Hestor there helped more than she'd expected it to because if she had questions she could sit down with him at the end of the day and even if he didn't have all the answers, he knew how to find them and it wasn't uncommon for them to be at a booth in the dining area with the table covered in books bickering back and forth about this or that point in the information they were gathering.
So far though she had held her own, her teams always kept things from reaching a point she had to dig deeper. When Friday came she watched Kaleb lead their mages, watched him bring Sun Fall to their knees and keep the now 40 point lead they had over all the other guilds.
"I'm taking the boys to see Dad, I think you should talk to Levy today Sunrise." Kaleb said sitting on the edge of the tub while she soaked. She nodded, looking at him seriously.
"You gonna give me a clue about what we'll be talking about? I mean she isn't wearing a ring anymore and told me the wedding was off but otherwise she's been just sort of...keeping to herself. I think if it weren't for Bixy she wouldn't talk to anybody, she just sort of sits and stares at Gajeel and Emzadi." She sighed. She could feel her friends sadness, remorse, even some anger and hefty jealousy but she didn't understand. Levy had made her choices. She had spurned Gajeel, which had turned out to be a good thing since it turned out Emzadi was the Iron dragons mate, but Levy had really no right to be upset about all of that did she?
"Not my story to tell, beautiful. Just remember she is your friend, and she deserves some patience and understanding, she's been through more than you know." He said and bent to kiss her, she smeared some bubbles on his face out of pure childish annoyance at his refusal to tell her all she wanted him to and he just laughed, kissed her again, murmuring softly against her lips "I love you Lucy." Which sent her heart fluttering just like it did every time he said it and went to collect the kids and go to his Dad.
Lucy pulled herself out of the bath and got dressed, she was about to dig around for one of the tablets to ask Thane where Levy's room was when there was a knock on the door and she hurried to it.
Levy gave her a nervous smile when she opened the door. "Oh! Hi Lucy...I uh...Kaleb's aid, Thane I think? He said you were wanting to talk with me?" She asked in a soft voice.
Shocking them both a firm hand grabbed Levy's arm "Not just Lu, I do too now both of you get yer asses into that suite." Cana announced, appearing out of nowhere courtesy of a tall midnight eyed slayer who she turned and kissed "Thanks Cris, please tell Rowan to be naked when I get back to the room huh?" She said with a sly grin shutting the door behind her.
"Ok, sit yer ass down Blue and lets hear what the fuck is going on with you." Cana demanded.
Levy drew a breath, sitting and putting her hands in her lap and looking like she wanted to be about anywhere but where she was.
"I guess you guys know I...broke things off with Gajeel and was going to marry Jet…" She sighed and both women nodded, looking at her expectantly.
"It was...Droy, he helped Jet concoct this love potion...I...I was just instantly hopelessly in love with Jet and….and Gajeel tried to talk to me and..I said horrible things to him...horrible Lu...I told him I'd never really cared about him, I just...wanted to try fucking a dragon slayer but I was over him and wanted to be with a man who really cared about me and loved the same things I did, that he was too evil, swore too much...Gods...so much...I said so much…" Levy was wiping tears from her face, shaking her head.
She would never forget the crushed look on Gajeel's face, how his shoulders had slumped, how he'd looked so...defeated. She'd watched him all week now, had learned he was mated to the statuesque voluptuous blonde she'd seen him with the first night they had arrived.
She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting really. The potion had finally worn off when Droy couldn't get more of the rare rose it was derived from and she'd suddenly woken up and realized, she did NOT love Jet, she was in love with Gajeel and she'd hurt him and she didn't know why she'd done any of the things she'd done for the last few months.
She'd rounded on Jet when he'd tried to kiss her but it was Droy who had caved and admitted they had been drugging her...drugging her with a love potion...it had started when they had seen her with Gajeel in Crocus, followed them to a pub and slipped the potion into Levy's drink….that was the night she'd planned to be with Gajeel, they had nearly gone all the way that morning but Lilly had interrupted them, so she'd made plans so she and Gajeel could be alone that night and had planned to...finally...go to his bed and hopefully become his mate.
But that hadn't happened, no, because Jet had drugged her. She'd pressed charges this time, turned Jet and Droy in for what they had done to her, according to the laws it was the same as kidnapping...and rape...she and Jet had been having more than a little sex since that first night. It was a miracle she hadn't gotten pregnant.
Jet and Droy had begged her to drop the charges but she'd turned away and left them with the rune knights, Natsu had found her the next day as she'd been trying to find out where Gajeel had gone.
He'd told her he knew where Gajeel was, and Erza and Gray had confirmed it when they had met up with them, Gajeel was in Bosco with Lucy and Cana and some of the others, and they were going to get them and bring them back to Magnolia and rebuild Fairy Tail.
Everything Lucy had said though had taken the hope and happiness right out of Levy's already wounded heart, add in seeing Gajeel cuddling with the gorgeous tall buxom blonde, looking so happy, rubbing her belly and finding out the couple were not just mated but...Emzadi was pregnant with Gajeel's child and Levy had lost...everything.
She'd sat alone, trying to keep to herself, shocked when, of all people, Bickslow had slid into the little booth she tended to hide in down in the dining area set up for White Sea where she would read and soak in the atmosphere of a healthy thriving guild and miss Fairy Tail more and more.
"Hey bookworm, since you're in Bosco, I figured you might want some local reading material." He said brightly, sliding a book across to her.
She had picked it up and lifted a brow at him. "The Boscan Sudehpah order and League of Pleasure and Relaxation attendants…..seriously?"
Bickslow shrugged, smirking at her as he sat back against the booth, crossing his hands behind his head. Levy was struck suddenly realizing he was not wearing his visor, or all the plumed hooded armor she'd always seen him in. Instead, he was leaning back in a skin tight dark blue compression shirt with his blue and black streaked hair pulled back in a short tail and sort of flopping over his playful crimson eyes looking all shiny and silky and like it would be heaven to run your fingers through it. No mohawk, no silly armor, just a very...very handsome man with beautiful slanted eyes rimmed with thick curling lashes that had a very well built lithe and muscular body.
She'd honestly never seen him looking like he was right then or ever thought to look at him than anything but one of Laxus' guard.
"I figure you've been having a rough bit lately, might need to relax a little, let that pretty blue hair down and get a little freak on, remember why you like being a woman, that you are a beautiful one, and maybe you can clear that pretty head and think some, you've been looking like you're having trouble with that, I've seen you re-read that same chapter in that book at least 11 times in the last two days." He observed nodding toward the book she'd set down.
Levy blushed. When had Bickslow of all people become so damned observant?
"I...I've had a lot on my mind is all." She said quietly.
"Yep, heavy metal and the heat of the fucking sun. Look, I'm not trying to bust yer balls here, Bookworm, but I see what I see and I know you're feeling a little like...you don't belong, I just want you to know that's not true, you're still nakama in my book, in everyones, no matter what guild seal you have ok? If you need somebody to talk with or just sit with? I've spent years as Freed's friend, I am totally at ease around obsessive readers." He chuckled.
He'd followed through too, spent hours with her at the Guild Library after the games let out the next day, just quiet easy company that had given her the ability to enter White Seas Guild Hall and visit it large library, and then smile in amazement when she was informed the one at White Sea proper was three times as large.
She'd thanked him, and since then, she'd not had to eat alone, Bickslow usually came and sat with her for meals, often followed by others from the guild because he was a friendly well liked man and had a large loving group of siblings.
She liked Xally right away, thoughtful and a little bookish like her but fiery, she'd watched the woman grab Bacchus, who she was apparently dating and had been for a long while, and yank the man down into a seat beside her by his ponytail then pull his head back when he'd grumbled and kissed him until he was all smiley and hazy eyed before plopping into his lap and placing a book on the table she had flipped open and started reading while Bacchus had heaved a sigh and started rubbing her back.
Xally had tamed the "wild" man formerly of Quatro Cerberus who was now sporting a White Sea guild symbol on his back, and hearing him murmuring to the smiling raven haired little water mage it was clear...Bacchus was happy about it.
Lucy just...amazed her, she'd never seen her friend so radiant and happy, and her husband...Gods...no wonder Lucy was so happy, Kaleb was gorgeous, and he made no effort at all to hide how much he loved Lucy, it shined in his eyes whenever he saw her and the couple were affectionate, always somehow in some sort of contact with each other whenever they could be, their adopted sons were merry children that seemed to adore them and all of their large family and Levy never saw a single person look at them with anything but affection, nobody turned them away when they would approach, they were always lifted into laps or given a place to sit.
Cana was clearly happy too, endlessly wrapped around her ruby haired fiance, Rowan was handsome and friendly and outgoing and he handled Cana beautifully. Treated her well, was sweet to her and didn't even blush when she would grab his ass, slid her hand under his clothes or climb into his lap and start making out with him. He took it all in stride and even put gentle wines he made himself into her hands and had tamed down her hard liquor issue. He doted on Cana too, She was thriving under his affection.
Laxus and his mate were...a surprise...but at the same time...endearing. Beck was patient, calm, and seemed to know exactly how to tame his tempramental mate. It was fitting somehow it took a Beastmaster to calm the Thunder God.
Freed and Romino were...adorable. The archive mage could pull up entire libraries of information, had spent time in Daevale where the international book market was, he was from Stella, a Stellan by birth and had been in their temple libraries, and any book the man touched was archived into his databases. Add in the fact Romino was 6 feet tall, broad shouldered, heavily muscular under his modest clothes so Freed had the burly, powerfully built man he had always wanted? The rune mage wore his wedding ring with pride and it was rare to see him without Romino close by, a green head beside a Lavender one. Romino was even teaching Freed how to fly airships.
The one that hurt though was Gajeel. She wasn't sure what she'd really expected, she had hoped a lot...that he'd still be missing her, not miserable like he'd been when she'd broken things off, no...she'd prayed he wasn't because she knew the horrid things she'd said, things she still couldn't believe had come out of her but she knew they had...she remembered every word, every detail of his eyes and face as she'd been so terrible to him.
Now he crossed the hall and the tall beautiful blonde that was his mate jumped shamelessly into his arms, shoving her hands in his thick black hair, Levy knew how good that hair felt between your fingers...knew how good those lips felt, how the piercings on his chin were cool while his lips were so hot, how the barbell in his tongue felt when it pressed against her own tongue. How he'd tasted...Emzadi put her feet back down so Gajeel could move back a bit, bend and press a kiss to her belly...they were expecting...she didn't really show it yet...but Gajeel's beautiful mate was pregnant with his child.
Levy felt terrible that seeing them so happy made her feel just...miserable. He wasn't missing her, wasn't pining for her, he'd come to Bosco, found his mate and was building the family he'd once wanted….with her.
"Well...shit Lev...Ok, I see why you feel bad, and I hope you apologize to Gaj and all, but, you weren't his mate, you never were, no matter what you and Gaj wouldn't have worked out You can't look at and think at all "If I hadn't said those things I'd be with him" because you wouldn't be, Emzadi was born for him, and he's never been so happy, have you seen her? She's a fucking monster! 6 feet tall, metal head can hammer her with all his strength, roll over on top of her in his sleep, anything and she won't even fucking bruise, he can totally be himself with her and Lev...he never could have done that with you. Shit he was always walking on eggshells around you, doubting himself, choking on things he wanted to say, terrified he was going to hurt you" Cana said and Levy couldn't stop her tears, she knew Cana was right, knew she and Gajeel were clearly never meant to be, but he'd been so sweet, and he was so strong and handsome and powerful and nobody like him had ever given her a chance before.
Lucy gave Cana a hard look, getting back only two hands held up, she couldn't really be mad at anything Cana had said, it was all true, it was just...poor Levy...she was a good person, she deserved someone who would appreciate her, love her for who she was, that wouldn't struggle with being gentle like Levy would need.
"Levy, don't worry about it for now, we need to get through the games here, just a few more days, then we can actually take some real time and work on all of this ok?" She knew the offer was weak, but she didn't know what else to say or do for her friend. Levy was still thinking about what her plans were. Natsu, Erza and Gray were going back to Magnolia, Mira and the others were already there and had started rebuilding while Natsu and the others had gone searching for their friends.
She couldn't muster regrets, she didn't feel bad she wasn't going back with them, they had hurt her, abandoned her, left her behind without a single glance back, not caring at all about her until they needed her for something.
Hestor, as usual, had been the one to point it out when the argument had started again the night before.
"A year...in an entire year Natsu you didn't check in on her, didn't try to contact her, not once...you act like you didn't want her to change, like she should be like she was when you left her behind." Hestor had snapped and Natsu had snarled at him...as usual…
"So what? That's not too much to ask!" Natsu had returned and Hestor had glared at him coldly
"If she were as she was when you left she'd still be on her knees crying over the rubble of the Fairy Tail guild alone and left behind."
Natsu had stared at him, mouth open, and had looked down and walked to the bar and sat down to think some more. Lucy hadn't gone to comfort him either, because Hestor had been right, it would be different if Natsu had tried to contact her, check on her even once in all that time, but he hadn't, he really had just...left her. Then, when his own issues were resolved to his satisfaction, he'd come back and expected her to drop everything and just...follow him anywhere, all happy to see him. The saddest thing? If Bickslow hadn't taken her to Bosco, if she hadn't met Kaleb and joined White Sea...that's exactly what would have happened, that was how desperate she was to be accepted, to be loved and wanted and needed.
Well, they couldn't have her, she was happy damn it, and she had worked hard for her happiness, she had a home, a guild, a husband and a family. When the games were over...maybe more too. She had talked with Kaleb about it, and he'd stopped taking the birth control disks and so had she, now...whatever the future held for them, they had opened all the doors for it.
A/N Yes, a lot of you have been asking if there's going to be more on the history behind the Archangels, there will be, I'm even starting work now on a focused look at the first Triad of Archangels and will probably post it in "Pradesh" as a one shot (might be a long one shot but a one shot) Thank you again everyone taking time to review and send PMs every day!
DESNA